I'm surprised that they think the wheelbase on the Challenger and 'cuda were the same! 'cuda had a shortened wheelbase
Agreed. The 'Cuda wheelbase was 2 inches shorter than the Challenger. Also, the Challenger was 4.7 inches longer, 0.2 inches taller and 1.7 inches wider. It had more luxury features on it and sold much better than the Barracuda. (Note- Similar to the GTX and Road Runner).
I cringe when i see (still) new Hellcats for sale by dealers with cloth seats. What were they thinking, that the average Hellcat buyer was too poor to afford Alcantara or leather? Well, I hope they enjoy their cloth, as those cars have not sold yet, and there are no new ones being made.
They got the ride height from factory correct back then which is a miss on the modern day Challengers etc (which lowering springs or coilovers can only correct to a limited degree due to design limitations). .
We were lucky to get the new Challenger. In 1998, Chrysler merged with German automaker Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler AG. The merger proved contentious with investors and, as a result, Chrysler was sold to Cerberus Capital Management and renamed Chrysler LLC in 2007. Like the other Big Three automobile manufacturers, Chrysler was impacted by the automotive crisis of 20-08-2010. The company remained in business through a combination of negotiations with creditors, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 30, 2009, and participating in a bailout from the U.S. government through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. On June 10, 2009, Chrysler emerged from the bankruptcy proceedings with the United Auto Workers pension fund, with Fiat, and the U.S. and Canadian governments as principal owners. The bankruptcy resulted in Chrysler defaulting on over $4 billion in debts. In May 2011, Chrysler finished repaying its obligations to the U.S. government five years early, although the cost to the American taxpayers was $1.3 billion. So, with all of these financial problems going on, Dodge decided to develop a concept car, in 2006, based on an existing platform to save money. Also, it wanted to get the car into production quickly because Chevy had the new Camaro in the wings. So, it used the Charger flatform, shortened by three inches. The designers had to use a lot of visual tricks (e.g., black rocker moldings) to make the car appear less tall. Overall, I thought that they did a fantastic job developing a retro-designed Challenger. Watch the following designer video. 2008 Challenger Designer Interview -- Segment 2 (youtube.com)
